The present disclosure is directed toward performance garments having the visual effect of denim and methods for preparing performance garments having the visual effect of denim. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed toward garments, such as pants, that are made of stretch performance fabric but have the appearance of being made of denim fabric.
The unique appearance of denim garments, such as jeans, is largely attributable to the denim weave and to the abrasion of the denim fabric. Denim is a cotton fabric having a twill weave in which each warp yarn passes over a number of weft yarns, typically between two and four. Typically, only the warp yarn is dyed, such as with indigo, while the weft yarn remains white. The indigo dyeing of the warp yarns is also conventionally controlled so that the core of the warp yarns remains white. Accordingly, as a denim garment is worn, it undergoes a natural abrasion or fading. This abrasion is most notable on those regions of the garment that receive the most stress. On a pair of jeans, for example, abrasion is often most apparent on the upper thighs and the seat. Natural abrasion also often includes a pattern of faded lines behind the knees (sometimes referred to as honeycombs) and/or faded streaks that surround the crotch or upper thigh areas (sometimes referred to as whiskers). Though often more subtle, worn denim is also characterized by abrasion, or fading, on the garment seams and in the area immediately adjacent to the garment seams, which is caused by the bulkiness of the seams and the stress put on the fabric in and around the seams. Although some of these abrasion patterns may be specific to denim jean pants, characteristic denim abrasion of this general sort occurs on any garment that is constructed of denim fabric.
Because this worn appearance is often a desirable component of denim garments, a denim garment is often abraded by the manufacturer prior to sale. This may be achieved in a number of ways, such as by sanding, spraying the garment with bleaching or oxidizing chemicals that lighten the indigo color in certain wear areas, water washing with pumice stone or other abrasives, laser etching, or the like. Although these abrasion methods are stressful on the fabric, the denim fabric is strong enough to withstand these processes.
In addition to the abrasion patterns described above, jeans are also characterized by a number of other features, such as features that are related to the construction of the jeans as opposed to the denim fabric itself. These characteristic features include, for example, characteristic stitching, a fly, a yoke, rivets, pockets (a traditional 5-pocket jean including a pair of curved front pockets, a pair of rear patch pockets, and a coin pocket), a characteristic waistband, belt loops, and a front button.
Due to the popularity of skin-tight denim jeans, known as skinny jeans, imitation jean products such as jeggings have been introduced to the market. Jeggings are typically made out of a blend of cotton and polyester, with a very small amount of spandex. For example, a jegging may be about 69% cotton, 30% polyester, and 1% spandex or about 70% cotton, 16% rayon, 12% polyester, and 2% spandex. Some versions of jeggings contain little to no cotton at all. For example, some jeggings may be made out of a knit fabric made up of about 95% polyester and 5% spandex. Where the cotton content is low, jeggings are typically knitted rather than woven. Other imitation jean products include Digital Luxe Denim, which is a soft sateen fabric that may be made up of, for example, about 80% cotton, about 15% rayon, and about 5% polyurethane, and that has been popularized by a company known as AG Jeans®.
Many of these imitation jean products do not use a fabric containing the traditional denim weave and thus do not naturally have the characteristic abrasion of jeans. Additionally, the fabrics used in these imitation jeans are often not strong enough to withstand the abrasion process that is applied to jeans. Therefore, to create the artificial visual appearance of a denim jean, jeggings and the like are printed with a pattern that is meant to provide the garment with the visual appearance of a denim jean. The printing is achieved by a process that includes (a) imaging the panels of an actual denim jean garment in order to capture the characteristic features of the jean, (b) converting those images to a pattern for printing onto the fabric panels that make up the imitation jean garment, and (c) printing those patterns onto the fabric panels for the imitation jean garment. The quality of the resulting visual effect varies significantly depending on the resolution that is used in the imaging process, though many imitation jeans contain printed abrasion patterns having a visual effect that is significantly less than realistic.
Notably, because all of the imitation jean products seek to have the visual appearance of actual jeans, all of the products either (i) contain the additional characteristic features of a jean, such as characteristic stitching, a fly, a yoke, rivets, pockets, a waistband, belt loops, and a front button, (ii) are printed with a pattern that is meant to mimic the additional characteristic features of a jean, or (iii) include some combination of the above, e.g. the product contains actual pockets but printed rivets. The printing of these features often also contribute to the significantly less than realistic visual effect of the imitation jean garment.
In recent years, athletic or performance garments, which are made of high-stretch performance fabrics as opposed to cotton, have become increasingly popular. Because performance garments are fragile fabrics, however, they cannot be subjected to the techniques that are used to create abrasion on denim fabrics. Additionally, not all performance fabrics are capable of being printed according to the conventional printing processes, such as sublimation printing. The present inventors have developed a new method for printing photorealistic denim weave and denim abrasion patterns onto a performance garment. Using this new method, the present inventors have prepared performance garments that combine the desirable qualities of high performance athletic wear with a realistic visual appearance of denim.